Maybe I have a misleading title because beers can be wholly fermented in casks and whatnot, but that is not what I am referring to here. I've been getting into single malts lately and have read a sizable amount of the various cask finishes many distilleries use for their malts- sherry, port, tawny port, and sauternes tend to come up the most. Do you guys think that breweries in the future might go for a more subtle 'cask finished' route over long-term (bourbon) barrel aging? When I'm sipping a sherried Scotch, I get the underlying spirit character and nice sherry notes in a much more complementary way than most bourbon barrel aged beers, which often seem young, hot, and unbalanced. Bourbon barrel stouts are just one thing. Are breweries overlooking the subtleties of a sherry cask finished saison, for instance, for the in-your-face extreme barrel aging we are more accustomed too? What are your thoughts? Which 'cask finishes' do you think would go well with particular styles? Let's avoid discussions of cost- I already know that bourbon barrels are much more widely available than other barrels which is why breweries (and Scotch distilleries) use them.
